Shafaq News..Security forces seize rare antiquities across Iraq

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s National Security Service (INSS) recovered hundreds
of rare antiquities in separate operations across six provinces, the agency
said on Monday.

In Baghdad, the recovered collection included five statues,
five pottery pieces, a cylinder seal, and ancient coins. The INSS said
authorities began legal procedures to confiscate the items before handing them
over to the relevant agencies for preservation.

In separate operations in Kirkuk, Nineveh, Al-Anbar, Babil,
and Wasit, security forces seized hundreds of artifacts, manuscripts, and rare
gold coins and arrested several suspected dealers and smugglers.

The INSS also said it caught a government employee dividing
archaeological land into plots for sale in Nineveh.

استعادة قطع أثرية نادرة وعمليات نوعية لجهاز الأمن الوطني لحماية التراث الوطني في ست محافظاتفي إطار الجهود المستمرة لحماية الإرث التاريخي والحضاري للبلاد، تمكنت دائرة أمن جهاز الأمن الوطني في بغداد من استرداد مجموعة من القطع الأثرية النادرة ضمت (5) تماثيل، و(5) فخاريات pic.twitter.com/7xJvRRlPMb

— جهاز الأمن الوطني العراقي (@Inss131) August 24, 2026

According to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and
Antiquities, Iraq recovered more than 40,000 artifacts in 2024 and 2025 through
seizures inside the country and repatriation efforts abroad. In May, the INSS
found 255 archaeological artifacts concealed in abandoned quarries between
Basra and Dhi Qar.